Crypto markets surge after Trump's election victory
Cryptocurrency markets have soared since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November.
The asset climbed from $69,374 on Election Day, hitting as high as $106,490 last week, largely accelerated by Trump's win and his pledge to make the country "the crypto capital of the planet."
The cryptocurrency rose six figures earlier this month, just hours after the president-elect said he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to be the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"I think Trump is probably the most pro-Bitcoin presidential candidate or even political candidate in the world," Adam O’Brien, the CEO of Bitcoin Well, told LiveNOW from FOX last month, adding, "And he has outright said that he's going to look at putting Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset on the U.S. balance sheet, and I think that's an incredible move."
What is cryptocurrency?
According to Coinbase, cryptocurrency is typically decentralized digital money designed to be used over the internet.
FILE: Gold Bitcoins (Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Bitcoin, which launched in 2008, was the first cryptocurrency, and it remains by far the biggest, most influential, and best-known. In the decade since, other assets like ethereum, XRP, tether and dogecoin have also gained popularity.
Some investors see cryptocurrency as a "digital alternative" to traditional money, but most daily financial transactions are still conducted using fiat currencies such as the dollar. Also, bitcoin can be very volatile, with its price reliant on larger market conditions.
Could crypto keep climbing?
Trump, who was once a crypto skeptic, has pledged to create a "strategic reserve" of bitcoin. His campaign accepted donations in cryptocurrency, and he courted fans at a bitcoin conference in July. He also launched World Liberty Financial, a new venture with family members to trade cryptocurrencies.
Trump nominates crypto currency advocate as SEC chair
President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a "proven leader for common sense regulations." In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation.
"I think that Bitcoin has a habit of surprising people. It goes higher than you think it will, and then it falls faster than you think it will," O’Brien continued. "But if you zoom out and look over the course of the last five and now 15 years, Bitcoin is a smooth way to protect the value that you create with your time."
He added: "At the end of the day, you want to take portions of your wealth and put it into Bitcoin and save it for future generations, because Bitcoin is the only place that you can comfortably say this is safe for my great-granddaughter."
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The new year will usher in the bitcoin-friendly administration of Trump and an expanding lobbying effort in statehouses that, together, could push states to become more open to crypto and for public pension funds and treasuries to buy into it.
Proponents of the uniquely volatile commodity argue it is a valuable hedge against inflation, similar to gold.
Still, as with everything in the cryptoverse, the future is never promised. Worldwide regulatory uncertainties and environmental concerns around bitcoin "mining" — the creation of new bitcoin, which consumes a lot of energy — are among factors that analysts like Dan Coatsworth note could hamper future growth. And, as still a relatively young asset with a history of volatility, longer-term adoption has yet to be seen through.